Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue: Troubleshooting Advice

[Old Music Guy]

I was tracking with a friend last week. He was using my BD. At some point, every time he played a B4 or a B5, the amp would buzz/squeel. No other B, No other note. 

All of a sudden the amp started to buzz madly. I turned all the controls to zero, and turned the amp on again. Still buzzed. 

I don't live in an area where amp repairs are readily available, so I just thought about it. 

I turned on the amp this evening hoping to narrow down the problem, and think I got it. 

I suspected the 6L6 outputs, but at $60+ I wasn't in the mood to shotgun it with tubes. 

So, 

1. I turned on the amp (after removing the back) and let it warm up. The buzz was still there. 

2. Felt the tubes and one was cooking (heater short?)

3. I removed the 6L6s and turned the amp on: No buzz. 

4. To check the front end, I plugged the "Pre-amp Out" into another amp. Worked great. So I knew the front end was OK. 

5. Bought JJ 6L6s. 

 

I put this here only because I needed to fix the amp myself. There is way too much information out there that I didn't trust, so I had to take the bull by the tail and face the situation. 

If this helps anyone, I'm happy. 

 

[KuruPrionz]

I've had tube problems with tube amplifiers more than once. Tube amplifiers may be reliable but my experiences with tubes indicate that they are not reliable. 

 

The one I'll never forget is a gig where I was running a Mesa Boogie Mark III head with Simul-Class, reverb and EQ, a spendy amp from a very reputable company. 

Sound check went well. First note of the show, the amp starts humming and squealing. Playing the "take the tubes out and try to guess which one is defective onstage" game was not happening. The other band loaned me a Gallien-Kruger guitar head from the days when those amps did not sound good at all. I got through the gig and at home I found that V1, the most difficult tube to remove from that head, had gone south. It was one of Mesa's SPX7 tubes, their best hand tested preamp tube. It was about 3 months old and it died. 

 

Now I play Peavey TransTube amps. If you dial them correctly (and put in a better speaker), they sound great. Never a problem, so far. I sold the Mesa a long time ago. 

[Old Music Guy]

I have a few decades of experience in electronics, but mostly solid-state: analog and digital. Tubes? Not a clue. 

But what surprised me was how the tube failed. It only started to exhibit any sign of failure when a B4 was played, and the B5. Any B above or below sounded fine. Then it just sh*t the bed. I have never known any active component failure to be frequency specific. 

 

Fortunately, I was able to test the front end through another amp via the pre-amp out, That saved me A LOT of $$$ not having to buy 3 12AX7s. 

 

Hopefully this can be a tip for those with similar issues, 

 

D2

 

[KuruPrionz]

36 minutes ago, Old Music Guy said:

I have a few decades of experience in electronics, but mostly solid-state: analog and digital. Tubes? Not a clue. 

But what surprised me was how the tube failed. It only started to exhibit any sign of failure when a B4 was played, and the B5. Any B above or below sounded fine. Then it just sh*t the bed. I have never known any active component failure to be frequency specific. 

 

Fortunately, I was able to test the front end through another amp via the pre-amp out, That saved me A LOT of $$$ not having to buy 3 12AX7s. 

 

Hopefully this can be a tip for those with similar issues, 

 

D2

 

Tubes can become "microphonic" and depending on what caused that, the size and make of the tube etc, the frequency that will cause a rattle varies. 

When I was using tube guitar amps, this happened quite a few times. Sometimes a deep, ugly rattle, sometimes a higher pitched vibration. If you are going to gig with a tube amp you need to bring a full set of replacement tubes that you've tested at home. You might need to replace just one tube but during a gig that's not a great idea. Swapping one at a time to see which one it was takes time. Swapping out the whole set is much faster. I'd also recommend a kitchen hot pad glove, some tubes get really hot. Be very careful not to allow and force or blows to hot tubes, that can ruin them too. 

 

Tubes are more like light bulbs than the components you are used to working with. Even a well cared for tube that doesn't have problems will eventually fail, they have a lifespan and some live longer than others. I still own a tube tester and have a stash of tubes, I need to test them all and sell them, then sell the tester. 

 

I'm using solid state moving forward. 

 

[surfergirl]

I sold my only tube amp. Sometimes I wish I hadn't, but I made a nice profit and it's being used now. I wasn't using it, only using my Boss Street Cube ll and Vox VT40+. Sometimes times I think I might want a Vox AC 15, but the 40+ has 33 amps typs including 6 Vox. 

[KuruPrionz]

2 hours ago, surfergirl said:

I sold my only tube amp. Sometimes I wish I hadn't, but I made a nice profit and it's being used now. I wasn't using it, only using my Boss Street Cube ll and Vox VT40+. Sometimes times I think I might want a Vox AC 15, but the 40+ has 33 amps typs including 6 Vox. 

I used to own a small solid state Vox, probably came out before yours did so yours is even better sounding. I liked my Vox but I flipped it. I've ended up with Peavey TransTube for now, really under-rated and in large part ignored because the small ones come with an 8" speaker that's pretty OK but not full and rich like a good speaker. Swapping in a Scorpion 10" made the 2 I own sound fantastic. I left the Peavey logo on them to annoy people. 

[Caevan O’Shite]

8 hours ago, surfergirl said:

I sold my only tube amp. Sometimes I wish I hadn't, but I made a nice profit and it's being used now. I wasn't using it, only using my Boss Street Cube ll and Vox VT40+. Sometimes times I think I might want a Vox AC 15, but the 40+ has 33 amps typs including 6 Vox. 

 

14 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

Tubes can become "microphonic" and depending on what caused that, the size and make of the tube etc, the frequency that will cause a rattle varies. 

When I was using tube guitar amps, this happened quite a few times. Sometimes a deep, ugly rattle, sometimes a higher pitched vibration. If you are going to gig with a tube amp you need to bring a full set of replacement tubes that you've tested at home. You might need to replace just one tube but during a gig that's not a great idea. Swapping one at a time to see which one it was takes time. Swapping out the whole set is much faster. I'd also recommend a kitchen hot pad glove, some tubes get really hot. Be very careful not to allow and force or blows to hot tubes, that can ruin them too. 

 

Tubes are more like light bulbs than the components you are used to working with. Even a well cared for tube that doesn't have problems will eventually fail, they have a lifespan and some live longer than others. I still own a tube tester and have a stash of tubes, I need to test them all and sell them, then sell the tester. 

 

I'm using solid state moving forward. 

 

On the matters of tube-amps, and the longevity, durability, reliability, and availability of tubes...

I embraced the digital-modeler and IR concept wholeheartedly; bought a Strymon Iridium, and LOVE IT. It's fantastic for headphone-use and DI duties! I throw some favorite pedals in front of and after it, much as I would a real-live tube-amp and its effects-loop, if equipped with one. It's a fantastic alternative, as are similar units from the likes of Universal Audio and Boss. No worries of tube failures, unavailability with that... and I thoroughly enjoy its tone and feel.

THAT said, I hedged my bet BOTH ways... I also scored a 65 Amps Producer EL head, an all-tube, 28 watt, 2xEL34 amp with a very unusual circuit design- it's no stretch to even call it unique. It runs all of its tubes on very low voltage and very high amperage- the opposite of conventional tube-amp circuits. This necessitated custom designed and custom hand-made transformers, something the majority of other amp-makers rather cheap-out on.

This results in an estimated Output and Driver Tube life of 25 years or so... !! EVEN WITH CURRENT PRODUCTION TUBES, the quality of which is generally lamentable. This also makes current production tubes sound much better than they usually do, rivaling costly NOS tubes from the '50s, '60s and '70s.

Between the Iridium and the Producer EL, I can have my cake and eat it, too.

[Old Music Guy]

On 12/12/2023 at 4:47 PM, KuruPrionz said:

Swapping out the whole set is much faster.

After I located the faulty 6L6, (yet, it did burn!), I bought a matched pair of JJs. I also didn't realize how long I've had the amp. It was like 12 guitars ago, so, I've had it at least 10 years. Can't expect them to last forever. 

 

20 hours ago, surfergirl said:

I sold my only tube amp. Sometimes I wish I hadn't,

I have a solid-state Fender Champ, and a Roland JC-120, which is also SS. If I could sell the Fender tube, I would in a heartbeat. One time I plugged in a Tele, turned the volume up to 4. walked across the room about 30 feet. No drive, no gain, no dice. First time I got feedback from a Tele!

For a 40W amp, this thing is a beast. 

11 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

THAT said, I hedged my bet BOTH ways... I also scored a 65 Amps Producer EL head, an all-tube, 28 watt, 2xEL34 amp with a very unusual circuit design- it's no stretch to even call it unique. It runs all of its tubes on very low voltage and very high amperage- the opposite of conventional tube-amp circuits. This necessitated custom designed and custom hand-made transformers, something the majority of other amp-makers rather cheap-out on.

With all due respect, THAT'S JUST SICK 😝 Nice rig!

[Old Music Guy]

39 minutes ago, Old Music Guy said:

It runs all of its tubes on very low voltage and very high amperage-

How is that accomplished?

[Caevan O’Shite]

3 hours ago, Old Music Guy said:

With all due respect, THAT'S JUST SICK 😝 Nice rig!

When the opportunity turned up, I had to get that amp- largely because of that unusual low-voltage/high-amps design and the way it's very easy on tubes.

[Larryz]

I loved my Fender tube amps as they have my favorite amp sound with a touch of their 2nd to none Reverb.  My only problem is they just kept getting heavier as I got older.  I had a 212 Twin Reverb around 80lbs, then I sized down to a Hot Rod 410 DeVille around 50lbs and sized down again with a 112 Hot Rod Deluxe around 35lbs.  They never gave me any problems and were always dependable and roadworthy and all ran 6L6's.  Then Fender came out with the 65 Deluxe 112 Solid State Tonemaster that simulates the tube version to a T at around 22lbs.  I'm now spoiled and will be selling my two remaining tubers.  I also have a Roland EX4 Solid State amp/PA that weighs around 22lbs that gets the most use these days as I sing and play small venues and will be selling my big heavy PA one of these days...

 

About the only thing I recommend to Fender 6L6 tubers is to buy "matched power tubes" and have the bias set anytime you change them.  😎

[Old Music Guy]

On 12/14/2023 at 12:03 AM, Larryz said:

buy "matched power tubes"

I did. JJs. I'm not a gigging guy, so a couple of volts bias are not gonna make a difference for recording. 

But I get your point, and appreciate the advice. 

 

[KuruPrionz]

On 12/13/2023 at 4:41 AM, Caevan O’Shite said:

I embraced the digital-modeler and IR concept wholeheartedly; 

I've gravitated towards analog solid state emulations of tube amps. Peavey Transtube is analog so is Tech 21 SansAmp. Both can be dialed it to sound fantastic and both can be made to sound like crap. 

It can take a little time and modifications to get the sound you want. The right speaker is essential but different amps, guitars etc. may need different speakers. 

Sometimes the wrong speaker can be the only reason you don't sound good. The stock speaker in a Peavey Vypyr VIP 1 did not make me happy at all. None of the 3 other 8" speakers I had at the time made me happy either. Made a new baffle, Scorpion 10 and magic! 

SansAmp can take some work too, depending on how you use it. If you have a good sounding guitar amp, you can get a good sound with SansAmp without too much work. The trebles can be harsh, especially if you are trying to go direct. I haven't tried IR yet but I only hear good things about it. I think my Tech 21 Double Drive 3x has a speaker sim in it. I've used it to record, it can sound nice or evil. 

[Old Music Guy]

The new JJs did the trick. And it has all the mum I could possible want.   

I would LOVE to get rid pf my 
heavy" amps, but the shipping makes it an unreasonable proposition. If I lived in an urban/suburban environment, local pick-up would be an option, but I am in the sticks.